Where’s Assad? Mystery deepens about Syrian leaderBEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad urged his military Wednesday to boost its fight against rebels, but his written call to arms only deepened a mystery over his whereabouts two weeks after a bomb penetrated his inner circle. Assad has not spoken publicly since the July 18 bombing killed four of his top security officials — including his brother-in-law — during a rebel assault on the capital, Damascus. The president’s low profile has r...

Panetta asks Israel for patience on IranJERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, standing next to the U.S. defense chief, said Wednesday without qualification that international economic sanctions have had no effect on Iran’s nuclear program and suggested Israeli patience was wearing thin, a statement that amounted to an indictment of President Barack Obama’s policy toward the Islamic republic. Netanyahu dismissed U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s assurances t...

Romney gaffes contrast with Obama in ’08BERLIN (AP) — The British were offended, the Palestinians accused him of racism and even in friendlier Poland, Mitt Romney’s union policies drew criticism from the current leaders of the movement that toppled communism. Romney’s visit to Britain, Israel and Poland was never expected to produce the same media frenzy as then-candidate Barack Obama’s extravagant, eight-country tour of 2008. Obama received rock star treatment from international me...

Teddy bears drop in, bring down 2 Belarus generalsMINSK, Belarus (AP) — It’s probably the first time in history that teddy bears have defeated generals. Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has sacked two of the nation’s top defense officials after two Swedish advertising agency employees piloted a light plane into the country’s heavily guarded airspace, dropping 879 teddy bears decked out in parachutes and slogans supporting human rights. Officials in the ex-Soviet state den...

Olympics awash in Twitter, for better or worseLONDON (AP) — It’s amazing how much trouble can be stirred up in 140 characters. But also how much intimacy, excitement, global scope and, yes, general zaniness. For better and for worse, the 2012 Olympics are being shaped, shaken and indisputably changed by a social media revolution that four years ago in Beijing was in its toddlerhood. Four days into the games, we’ve already seen (and this is but a partial list): • an athletes’ Twitter campa...

Eyes on London: Playing with pinkeyeTwo-time defending gold medalist beach volleyball pair Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor of the United States wrap up pool play Wednesday against Austrian sisters Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger — and Walsh insists she won’t be slowed by a case of pinkeye in her left eye. “It’s super minor,” she said. “It just looks worse than it is.” Walsh Jennings’ left eye was red and watery as she squinted through it, dabbing it repeatedly with a tis...

US wants tougher Pakistani action against HaqqanisWASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration expressed renewed frustration with Pakistan on Tuesday, urging its reluctant counterterrorism ally to break remaining links between its security services and the Haqqani network and stem the flow of bomb-making material into Afghanistan. A State Department report credited Pakistan’s government with taking action against al-Qaida last year, even though the United States acted unilaterally in the comman...

Syria’s Aleppo running low on food amid siegeBEIRUT (AP) — Food and cooking gas were in short supply and power cuts plunged homes into darkness as soldiers and rebels battled Tuesday to tip the scales in the fight for Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and the current focus of its civil war. Life for Aleppo’s 3 million residents was becoming increasingly unbearable as a military siege entered its 11th day. While rebels seized two police stations, Syrian ground forces pummeled the opposition st...

Terror, China’s reach top Clinton agenda in AfricaDAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Growing security threats from Islamist militants and China’s increasing influence throughout Africa are topping the agenda as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton begins an 11-day swing around the continent. Clinton arrived in Senegal on Tuesday at the beginning of her latest marathon overseas journey, which will take her to at least seven African nations, including the world’s newest country, South Sudan, as well as...

Panetta: Egypt’s leaders promise full democracy CAIRO (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta left meetings with Egypt’s new leaders Tuesday with an optimistic outlook for the valuable American ally emerging from its Arab Spring revolution, saying that he believes new Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and the country’s military chief both are committed to democratic rule. The Pentagon chief told reporters that Morsi and Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi have a “very good relationshi...

Japan’s pro-bomb voices rise as nuke power debatedTOKYO (AP) — A contentious debate over nuclear power in Japan is bringing another question out of the shadows: Should Japan keep open the possibility of making nuclear weapons — even if only as an option? It may seem surprising in the only country devastated by atomic bombs, particularly as it marks the 67th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki three days later. The Japanese government officially renounces nuclear we...

Iran vows to resist sanctions ‘warfare’TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian officials unleashed sharper attacks against tightening Western sanctions Tuesday, equating the financial pressure to “warfare” and vowing to counter by retooling the country’s oil-dependent economy. The defensive remarks from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the head of Iran’s central bank appear to reflect two sides of the economic squeeze on the country: Growing anxiety about the drain from sanctions and high-lev...

Electricity grids fail across half of IndiaNEW DELHI (AP) — Electric crematoria were snuffed out with bodies inside, New Delhi’s Metro shut down and hundreds of coal miners were trapped underground after three Indian electric grids collapsed in a cascade Tuesday, cutting power to 620 million people in the world’s biggest blackout. While Indians were furious and embarrassed, many took the crisis in stride, inured by the constant — though far less widespread — outages triggered by the hu...

Warm reception expected as Romney lands in IsraelJERUSALEM (AP) — Mitt Romney’s support for Israel will likely earn the presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee a warm welcome from Israeli leaders when he meets with them Sunday — and a frosty reception from Palestinians, who fear he would do little to advance their stalled statehood dreams. Romney, who hopes to defeat Democratic President Barak Obama in the November general election, touched down in Tel Aviv on Saturday night as par...

Officials: Ebola breaks out in UgandaKAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — The deadly Ebola virus has killed 14 people in western Uganda this month, Ugandan health officials said on Saturday, ending weeks of speculation about the cause of a strange disease that had many people fleeing their homes. The officials and a World Health Organization representative told a news conference in Kampala Saturday that there is “an outbreak of Ebola” in Uganda. “Laboratory investigations done at the Uganda Vi...

Eyes on LondonLONDON (AP) — Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you: POST-CEREMONY SNAGS The backup begins. It’s smooth sailing for buses taking games lanes out of London’s Olympic Park, but other lanes north of the park into the center city are already not moving. Pretty night in london, though. Perfect temps, no rain. THAT’S A WRAP Thousands of spectators, at...

UN states fail to reach global arms trade treatyUNITED NATIONS (AP) — Member states failed to reach agreement Friday on a new U.N. treaty to regulate the multibillion dollar global arms trade, and some diplomats and supporters blamed the United States for triggering the unraveling of the monthlong negotiating conference. Hopes had been raised that agreement could be reached on a revised treaty text that closed some major loopholes by Friday’s deadline for action. But the U.S. announced Frid...

Syrian troops kill 6-year-old fleeing into JordanRAMTHA, Jordan (AP) — The family crept across farmland under night’s cover, heading for the border, when Syrian troops opened fire. Bullets whizzed around them as they broke into a mad dash, survivors say. The 6-year-old boy, holding his mother’s hand, broke away and ran ahead. He nearly made it into Jordan when he fell dead, a bullet in his neck. The boy, killed in the early hours Friday, was the first Syrian shot to death by border guards wh...

Both Koreas mark 59th anniversary of war armisticePANMUNJOM, Korea (AP) — Elderly North Korean veterans pledged loyalty to their 20-something leader in Pyongyang during Korean War armistice commemorations Friday that were being closely watched after Kim Jong Un reshuffled the military and revealed he’s married. Over the last two weeks, Kim has taken on the title of marshal and replaced his army chief — once a key mentor. Both moves were seen as an effort to build loyalty among the million-man...

Peru president’s tough first yearLIMA, Peru (AP) — A year into his presidency, Ollanta Humala has proven most popular among the Peruvians who most feared him as a candidate, and least popular with the poor he professed to champion. His ratings are lackluster, his popularity on a downward slide. As Humala’s approval rating dropped from 59 percent five months ago to 40 percent today, much of the blame owes to his inability to resolve a conflict over Peru’s largest mining projec...